Forms and FAQ - Clubs and Organizations - Touro Student Life
 
Guest | Sign In | Register

Clubs - Forms and FAQ

You can find the forms and frequently asked questions related to clubs. If you have questions not answered below regarding starting a club, please contact your SGA VP of Student Affairs - Geoffrey Lange (geoffrey.lange@tu.edu). If you have questions not answered below regarding budgets, please contact your SGA VP of Finance - Joe Ricci (tuca.sga.finance@tu.edu). Any other questions, please direct them to your SGA President - Bahram Sohrabi (tuca.sga.president@tu.edu).


Proposed Budget Form
SGA Reimbursement Form
TUCA Community Outreach Form
Financial Rules & Regulations for SGA and Club Spending


How do I add photos to my club's page on TU Student Life?

If you click on the admin tab of your club's page, the first tab that shows up is "General Club Info." At the very bottom of this section is a box that says "Picasa Username for photos" which is the username to log into Picasa. The club officers should know the password. If they do not, they should contact either the SGA VP of Archives - Soaman Dizechi (tuca.sga.archives@tu.edu) or the SGA VP of IT - Lois Hurr (tuca.sga.technology@tu.edu) to get it. If the club does not yet have a username, they need to contact the SGA VP of IT - Lois Hurr (tuca.sga.technology@tu.edu) so an account can be set up with a @tustudentlife.com email address that can be made into a Picasa account, which is necessary for the photos to automatically show up in the photos on tustudentlife.

Since Picasa has a limited amount of storage space, upload photos using the app from your computer (click on "Launch Picasa") rather than uploading through the web in order to reduce file size. Make sure the album is set to public (otherwise the photos will not show up on tustudentlife).

When you're in the Picasa app on your computer, you can go to Tools > Folder Manager, and select only your desktop photos to be scanned so that they automatically show up in Picasa and are ready to be uploaded and deleted when you're finished. Within the app, select the photos to be uploaded, pick 1600 pixels as the resolution, and click on the upload button. From there, you can choose to put the photos in an existing album or a new one.

How do I start a club?
If you want to be an official club under Touro and receive funding from SGA, you must go through this process with your SGA VP of Student Affairs - Geoffrey Lange (geoffrey.lange@tu.edu).  You will need the following three documents:

1.  Create a set of By-Laws.  Sample By-Laws #1, By-Laws #2
2.  A club roster of at least 12 active members with current contact information including officers and most importantly, the president's (please sign your name underneath the roster).
3.  A signed faculty advisor letter from a faculty member(s) who will represent, or endorse the club/organization.  Sample copy of a club's faculty advisor.

Once these are completed, please send an email to your SGA VP of Student Affairs - Geoffrey Lange (geoffrey.lange@tu.edu) with the signed digital copies of all three documents (club roster, signed faculty advisor, and by-laws).  You can scan the documents at the library.  Your SGA VP of Student Affairs - Geoffrey Lange (geoffrey.lange@tu.edu) will present the information to the SGA Senate at our next meeting, who will either approve or deny the club.  If approved by SGA, your SGA VP of Student Affairs - Geoffrey Lange (geoffrey.lange@tu.edu) will then present the necessary forms and info to Dr. Binkerd, the Associate Dean of Student Services, who has final say of the club approval. If you would like to attach a letter of intent with the forms, which usually has just a short paragraph stating why you wish to start this club, it would help the SGA make a more informed decision about what the club is about during our meeting.


How do I get money for my club/college?
First, be a recognized group in good standing with the SGA. Second, fill out a proposed budget form and submit it to your SGA VP of Finance - Joe Ricci (tuca.sga.finance@tu.edu). The budget is reviewed by your SGA VP of Finance who then submits it to the SGA Executive Committee (EC) for a vote. The EC can vote to fund the entire requested amount or a portion of it.


When is the club budget due?
Budgets are due each Fall and Spring semester by August 15th and January 15th, respectively. If your club has a Summer session, include that in the Spring budget.


What can we spend our money on?
Money can only be spent on items in the approved budget. You can not request money to donate to other organizations. You can request money to host a fundraiser but not to just channel directly to an outside group. You can not spend any monies for personal gain.


How do we spend club money?
Usually the money is spent by the student and the student is reimbursed. Reimbursements are obtained by filling out a Reimbursement Request form and turning this into your SGA VP of Finance - Joe Ricci (tuca.sga.finance@tu.edu) with all receipts.
*Note: If the expenditure is over $100 and a accurate quote for the item(s) or service can be obtained, a check can be written directly to the vendor so the students don’t have to spend their personal funds. Give the quote from the vendor to your SGA VP of Finance - Joe Ricci (tuca.sga.finance@tu.edu) at least 2 weeks before the event.


Can clubs appeal denied budgets, and if so, how?
Any Executive Committee decision can be appealed, including budget decisions. This is done through Parliamentary Procedure: Contact the President and ask to be added to the agenda. This will give you a time slot to discuss your issue. Keep it short, 3-5min to keep from boring everyone. When you are done describing your issue, someone (not you) will move the issue to the floor by saying "I move that we _________" and someone must second it. Then discussion is open to everyone. The President will preside over the discussion and only those recognized by the President can speak. Once discussion has come to an end, or if someone moves to take end the discussion, there is a vote. It takes 2/3 of the group present to override the Executive Committee decision. For details, see the SGA Constitution and Roberts Rules of Order.


Can clubs use their own fundraised monies for whatever they want without SGA approval
Clubs that raise money must keep that money in the SGA bank account. The club will be credited those funds and they are not subject to recouping by SGA at the end of the year. The club still has to fill out a Budget Request to use those funds but marks the box "college/club funding" to indicate this request is to use those monies. All University and SGA regulations must be followed.


When are reimbursements due?
They should be submitted to your SGA VP of Finance - Joe Ricci (tuca.sga.finance@tu.edu) as soon as possible.


Can our club update our budget?
Yes - use the budget form and mark it as updated. The updated budget has to be approved by a vote of the SGA Executive Committee.


Does the budgeted money roll-over for future use?
Only from the Fall to the Spring. On Aug 1, any money in the club account will be reclaimed by the SGA.


How many accounts can a club have?
Each club/class has one account only.


What happens to the funds they fundraised?
Any money donated or raised by the club/class must be given to your SGA VP of Finance - Joe Ricci (tuca.sga.finance@tu.edu), who will deposit it in the SGA bank account and credit the club/class account in the books. All checks need to be made out to “Touro SGA”.


How does our club fund Summer-session events?
Put these in the Spring budget request.


How many volunteer hours does our club need?
For each semester, a minimum of 15 hours of community service logged on the Community Outreach forms is required.


How do I reserve a room for a club event?
You will need to submit your request at least 2 weeks in advance. First check the TU master calendar to see if the room you want is not currently booked at the time and date you want it. Once you have reviewed what has already been reserved and choose a location, please send your request for a reservation to: Karen Malone (karen.malone@tu.edu) with the subject line “Room Reservation.” The following information only must be included in the email in this order:
Date(s) you are requesting:
Group:
Contact person:
Phone:
Email:
Event name:
Start time:
End time:
Room/Space requested:

You will receive either a confirmation with a reservation number or an email letting you know that the space is not available.

If you require AV equipment, please go on-line and reserve the equipment 72 hours prior to each event or meeting. You can find the request form at Touro’s web-site under Resources>TU-CA forms and then the M.I.S. department category.

If special seating arrangements, tables or chairs are needed, please go on-line and complete a Facilities Work Order (3) weeks prior to each event or meeting. You can find the work order at Touro’s web-site under Resources > TU – CA forms and then Facilities Dept. category.

For events on campus (that are not meetings), you must send your request for the event to the Master Calendar Committee for review and approval. This can be done by sending an email to Roger Scranton (roger.scranton@tu.edu).

If there is a cancellation of an event please remember to notify each department involved in the event of your cancellation.

If our club has food on campus, what do we do? Can we bring in outside food? How do we order food from TU food services? How can we use club funds to pay for the food?

All food purchased with SGA funds on or off campus must be kosher.

Food for officially planned or announced events through SGA must go through TU food services and be kosher because of school policy. If food cannot be ordered through TU food services, or if you have questions about getting food from elsewhere, you must consult Rabbi Tenenbaum (rabbi@tu.edu).

Food should be ordered AT LEAST 2 weeks in advance, but of course the sooner the better so everything can be prepared accordingly. Contact James Cruz (james.cruz@tu.edu) for catering requests and food questions. This year's catering menu and order form can be found here. Additional instructions are included in the menu.

Events that are planned for school announced events should be allotted in each club's budget and put in their budget proposal.